Fraxinus Excelsior 'Aurea' (Golden Ash) guidance
Posted: April 26th, 2024, 11:49 am
Hello everyone.
I was planning on chopping the tree here this spring.
Regardless of what layer I try to do (above rootstock or below rootstock), my final question is whether the trunk chop is a good idea post layering, or whether I should be less aggressive in my pruning for the upcoming season.
Any thoughts very much appreciated!
I have a Golden Ash I bought online as bare-root stock and so I was unable to select a nice looking graft for the future. I am hoping for some opinions on what I should do. In this pic, it is now ~6 years old (I assume the bare root tree was 2 years when I got it), so for the moment, I've just let it grow out and then loosely pruned back, and then repeat for a few years.
I was initially trying to ground layer with an extra pot cut into a ring, with a wire wrapped around the trunk (below the graft, as seen in pic) and get some higher roots but now I am unsure. Part of me likes the vigor and disease resistance (etc) that the Ash rootstock provides, but it does go quite craggly whereas the golden ash does not really do that - so the graft will almost always be visible (hence the attempt to raise the root plane). For bonsai purposes, should I abandon the graft altogether and try to layer the golden roots only? Does anyone have experience with this variety and how poorly the natural roots might be?I was planning on chopping the tree here this spring.
Regardless of what layer I try to do (above rootstock or below rootstock), my final question is whether the trunk chop is a good idea post layering, or whether I should be less aggressive in my pruning for the upcoming season.
Any thoughts very much appreciated!